On the top is a Return key (that takes you back to the previous menu) and the power/selector/play key. The 3mm earphone socket is located on the same side. There's a dedicated Record key on one side, where you’ll also find the mini-USB port. On the opposite side are the volume keys, with the Hold switch at the bottom. The front face may be a fingerprint magnet, but it’s not a bad-looking device at all.
Features and Performance: Philips has made sure that the SA2825 has plenty to offer music buffs. Aside from having an FM tuner that takes no more than 17 seconds to locate and save all available stations, it also has an FM recording option. That’s in addition to the inbuilt voice recorder. I was quite impressed during my daily commute. Although you’ll still get plenty of static in most areas, the pickup is pretty remarkable.
When it comes down to music quality, the SA2825 falls short of a high score, especially when you compare it with some of the other GoGear DAPs. It’s loud, I’ll give it that, but the highs are... well, simply put, too high. The dynamic range is not balanced correctly. With the help of the 5-band graphic EQ setting (aside from the presets available) I was able to cut down the piercingly bright mids and highs by actually going into the negative range.
I do not recommend listening to high-decibel music. The earphones were a little uncomfortable for me; they didn’t seem to stay put inside my ears. The sound quality was okay, but I found that a better pair of earphones offered a much-improved experience.
The SA2825 offers a volume limit setting so you can preset the volume to a particular level that it won’t exceed. I like the fact that it has a folder option for playing music directly form the folder you save your clips in. The DAP reads MP3, WAV, and WMA file formats, and songs can be simply copy-pasted into the device. With 2GB of space, you don't need to be particularly choosy either!
Philips claims the SA2825 can provide up to 20 hours of music playback, but this may be a bit of an exaggeration. After making sure the battery was full and ready to go, I left it on and periodically checked on it. It trailed off after 13 hours and 25 minutes. But that’s not too bad.
The Bottomline: The 2GB Philips SA2825 is priced at Rs 2,999. That’s not too bad but not great either – especially if you have a problem with the earphones. The FM radio reception is decent, so that’s a plus, but the overall sound quality isn't too impressive. It’s a great looking player – if you’re into appearances. In fact, women could wear this as a necklace and use it as a compact mirror whenever they wanted to fix their hair or reapply makeup. But that doesn't thrill me much.